The Baton Rouge Area Foundation revealed the winner of the 2026 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, given annually to a book by “an emerging African American fiction writer.”
This year’s prize went to Rob Franklin for Great Black Hope, published last June by Summit. The novel tells the story of David Smith, a Black queer man who is arrested for cocaine possession shortly after the death of his roommate and friend, Elle England. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “a captivating novel of dissolution and redemption.”
Franklin said in a statement, “I’m thrilled to receive this award and endlessly grateful to the judges panel and to the Gaines family for their support of my work. Ernest J. Gaines’ legacy of creativity, chronicling Black American life, and fostering the next generation of young writers is an immense inspiration, and I’m honored to be a part of it."
The $15,000 award is named in honor of Gaines, the late author of novels including A Lesson Before Dying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and The Tragedy of Brady Sims.
The award was established in 2007. Previous winners include Victor LaValle for Big Machine, Attica Locke for The Cutting Season, Jamel Brinkley for A Lucky Man, and Aaliyah Bilal for Temple Folk.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
